Growing Up: Teething
by hunnyfresh
Summary: Prompt from bigbadbey: Henry's teeth are beginning to come in, and he's found an unlikely chew toy.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or any recognizable characters**

**AN: Another in my Growing Up series. This one was a prompt from bigbadbey on Tumblr. Hope you like it!**

* * *

Henry was a biter, at least when he was teething. His main victim to chomp on to sooth his aching gums? Regina's fingers.

She had made the unfortunate discovery when his first tooth was coming in. Henry had wailed incessantly, and the eleven-month old just would not be soothed no matter what Regina tried. She stood in their living room, pacing the length of it with her son in her arms as he cried and cuddled into her neck. Not only was her baby hurting from the arrival of his first tooth, but his rising temperature and stuffy nose let her know he was running a fever. Dr. Whale had said not to worry, it was quite normal for babies to get sick when their teeth came in, but damn anyone and anything that caused her son discomfort.

She had tried every brand of pacifiers to sooth his aching gums, attempted applying Orajel only to make Henry all the more aggravated, and even tried letting him suck on an ice cube only for him to throw a tantrum when the small piece of ice kept slipping from his grasp. The only thing that kept him relatively calm was snuggles from his mother while releasing the frequent whimpering.

So Regina paced with the boy cradled against her neck as she rubbed his back whispering apologies for his pain. She breathed a sigh of relief when Henry quieted briefly, his crying turning to sniffling before the moment of calm was interrupted by her surprised yelp when he bit into her shoulder.

"Henry!" She couldn't stop herself from yelling out at the pain before tugging away her son from her shoulder as he looked on her with a watery pout.

She held him in the crook of her arm as she inspected the small indent at where he bit. She was too absorbed by the red welt to fully process that the boy had grabbed a few of her fingers and began gumming on them.

She whipped her head to him when she felt the tough gums on her finger, not quite in the path of his growing tooth, but the pressure released was enough to sooth his toothache. She thoroughly debated ripping her finger away, the sensation was much too peculiar, but it was the first time in days that Henry had quieted and it was enough to allow him to use her index as a chew toy.

Regina realized her mistake of allowing that as soon as Henry's second and third tooth came in. Like the first time, he was running a fever and refused any pacifiers. Sometimes she would luck out with the Orajel, but it was her fingers that he loved to gnaw on. This time was different, however.

His already grown teeth were sharp, and every so often, Henry would bite down on her finger using his teeth. Needless to say, the Mayor's finger had tiny little permanent indents as a result of her son.

* * *

She sighed as she rocked him in her office. His fourth tooth was coming in, and he wouldn't settle down for his usual babysitter forcing the brunette to bring him into work for the day. She was hoping he would be napping in time for her meeting that was scheduled to begin in five minutes, but Henry continued clinging to her neck trying to gnaw at her shoulder.

She sat down hard on her couch and placed her son on her knee, eyeing him sternly. "If you come to mommy's meeting, you must behave. I know your tooth is hurting you, dear."

Henry nodded obediently and clung to her neck again.

* * *

The sight of the Mayor walking into the conference room with Henry whimpering into her neck was a rare sight that no one had the courage to question. She gave no explanation, just sat in her usual chair, positioned Henry in her lap where he rested his head against her chest and proceeded to delegate as if this was an ordinary occurrence.

Like any other meeting, she glared when people dared to question her, rolled her eyes when someone insisted on speaking longer than thirty seconds, and smirked internally when she caught a developer in a rut.

"Tell me, Mr. Thompson, are you aware of the concept of time?" The Mayor asked condescendingly.

"Y-yes, Madame Mayor," the man stammered.

"Then why is it your company insisted that the new street lights would be up and running in a month's time, and it has well exceeded your due date?"

"The weather hasn't been agreeable-"

"You've lived here all your life. Are you not used to Storybrooke's-ow!"

The man, and everyone else around the round table, inched back in their chair at the brunette's scream. All eyes were on the Mayor who looked down at Henry with her finger in his mouth.

"Sweetie, mommy needs her finger back," she said softly but firmly as she attempted to wiggle her finger out of his mouth.

He didn't budge. Instead, he bit down harder making Regina wince.

"Henry," she scolded, but all the boy did was grin with her finger still held between his two front teeth.

She gave a firm yank, gasping at how deep the indent around her finger was, convinced one more bite would break the skin. Scooping Henry back into her arms and standing, she glared at the table as if they were the cause of her purpling finger. "Meeting rescheduled until further notice."

They watched as Regina left the room, attempting to scold the little boy but instantly softening when he clung to her neck again, clearly hoping to evade any forms of time out.

As soon as she left the room in a huff, Mr. Thompson laughed. "I like that kid."


End file.
